Nadal overcomes hiccup to march into Paris semi-finals

"I think for me it is very important today, because I playing against Dominic". He takes on rising tennis star Dominic Thiem for the title.

"He managed to do it well".

With the win, the 32-year-old Nadal is into the semifinals at Roland Garros for the 11th time.

With his strong clay court play as of late, Nadal is not necessarily walking into this match the clearcut favorite.

You don't get to a Grand Slam semi-final by accident. "I continued the level of intensity that I played after the first stop, and changed the match", he added.

Nadal, in an on-court interview, also said he's sure that runner-up Thiem will win the tournament in "the next couple of years".

Then again, Thiem upended Nadal in Rome past year before being thumped by the Spaniard in the French Open semifinals weeks later 6-3 6-4 6-0.

"There is a reason why he won 11 times here", said Thiem, a 24-year-old Austrian appearing in his first major final. It's just how it's happened for me", Stephens said, "I think once I get going in a tournament, I'm pretty consistent, which is good.

Tears welled in the eyes of the now 11-time champion as he was applauded by the crowd.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal saw off Argentina's Diego Schwartzman in a rain-postponed men's singles quarterfinals and will next face fifth-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro at the 2018 French Open on Thursday. But now I am so happy.

His uncle thought wrapping around Nadal's left forearm was too tight.

The statistics illustrate Nadal's concerns - he has missed at least eight Slam tournaments in his career through a legacy of wrist and knee problems. At the following changeover, he was given a salt pill by a doctor and had his left forearm massaged by a trainer.

With his good run at Roland Garros, Del Potro is now guaranteed to return to the top four in the rankings for the first time in more than four years.

It was the Austrian's third consecutive appearance in the semifinals at Roland Garros.

Thiem saved a first breakpoint in that game but couldn't save the second, hitting a forehand wide. Thiem was pushed to winning a seventh game in the opening set by Marco Cecchinato before having to outlast the Italian in a tiebreak in the second.

Nadal won the first set 6-4.

Bresnik knows, right along with everyone else, what a hard task it is to try to slow Nadal in a best-of-five-set match on his favorite surface and at his favorite tournament. Since then, the Spaniard has been imperious.

That was swatted away with Nadal's double-handed backhand, though, and the second set duly went the way of the favourite.

Kerber is a two-time Grand Slam champion.

"Even if it was 6-3 6-4, it was an uncomfortable match for me".

Just 45 percent of Thiem's first serves went in, compared to Nadal's 65 percent.

The fifth seed, who stunned Roger Federer to win the 2009 US Open at the age of 20, said he never imagined that the likes of the 20-time Grand Slam champion and Nadal would still be standing in his path at major tournaments nearly a decade later.